Don’t Judge People on Skin Colour, Every Skin Glows : Sejal Kumar

Recently Sejal Kumar travelled to different cities in India and spoke to 6 gorgeous girls about what beautiful skin tone/color means to them and what their opinion on skin tone/color discrimination is. It was a week full of new experiences, conversations and thoughts. Skin colour discrimination is still so prevalent in our society but it is great to see these girls having such strong opinions against it and how they held their own against such norms!

Beauty of a dark skin can only be seen by a good soul. Judgments based on the skin tone is not just a mental problem but is also a larger social problem.

The change has to begin with an individual. One has to believe in their beauty irrespective of their skin tone. One is not the colour of their skin but instead the opinions they make and carry.

A comment on your skin tone does not tell as much about one’s physical attributes, as it tells about their mental and emotional attributes.

Click here to check out the complete video in collaboration with Clean and Clear as a part of the amazing campaign #EveryFaceIsBright .

Project ‘De Náva’ : Conceived & Directed by Vaayudhwani

The nine days of Navratri are symbolic of the supreme female cosmic power or Goddess Shakti who is worshipped in her variously manifested forms as Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati. But contradictorily in a goddess-worshipping community women also have to fight numerous battles of violence, abuse, etc, in their everyday lives. Thus, Navratri being celebrated merely as a festival of colors, dancing and singing out to the Goddess feels pointless, when on the other hand our women remain exploited. This thought is manifested beautifully by Vaayudhwani, through her Project ‘De Náva’.

(Picture Credits: VaayuDhwani Productions)

Project ‘De Náva’ is a unique social experiment with the key objective to initiate the message #SeekTheGoddessWithinYou, which is not gender-biased, in a culture of blind worship. In this, a photoshoot was done portraying various avatars of goddess. Women from different walks of life came together to highlight some relevant issues like disability, body positivity, and LGBT rights.

(Vaayudhwani)

Vaayudhwani is a creative multi-talent, with a love for writing and visual story-telling. Her passion for innovating with new concepts and implementing content in creative formats, appeals hugely to the audience. Her first short film themed on ‘Swatchh Bharat’ won her an award particularly due to the concept. She, along with her friend Vajranabh Natraaj Maharshi founded the Vaayudhwani Productions, for such projects.

This initiative to connect people to the true purpose of this festival, by giving a fresh and an abstract perspective to Navratri and propagating the message of #SeekTheGoddessWithinYou, is truly commendable. Check out the quick video to know more about the concept.

Check out the Amazing Album ‘Project ‘De Náva’

Day 1 Avatar: ShailaputriPlayed by: Mahek Kukreja

Day 2 Avatar: BrahmachariniPlayed by: Garima Goel

Day 3 Avatar: ChandraghantaPlayed by: Amee

Day 4 Avatar: KushmandaPlayed by: Virali Modi

Day 5 Avatar: SkandamataPlayed by: Anaysha Patel

Day 6 Avatar: KatyayaniPlayed by: Sonia Shetty

Day 7 Avatar: KalaratriPlayed by: Priyali Shende

Day 8 Avatar: MahagauriPlayed by: Tripty K Jagasia

Day 9 Avatar: SiddhidatriPlayed by: Keshav Kalyan

Wishing you all a very happy Navratri and Durga Puja.

India’s #MeToo Movement : ‘Log Kya Kahenge’ by Shipra Rastogi

The subtly expressed grief on the birth of a girl, the hesitation in allowing girls to come home late, the fear of letting them dress to their choices and not allowing them to follow their hearts, are all punctuated with the emotion of “Log kya kahenge?” (what will people say?).

The recent #MeToo movement has thrown light on the magnitude of the sexual assault problem in our country. This agonizing state is beautifully portayed in “The Log Kya Kahenge : INDIA’s #MeToo movement”, written and directed by Rahul Arya and performed by Shipra Rastogi. It is a commentary on the outlook of society towards a girl and the challenges she faces throughout her life, from the eyes of a girl.

Shipra Rastogi, a television and film actress hailing from Lucknow, has been on Crime Patrol & several advertisement. She made her debut with the movie ‘Dumdum Digga Diga’ and is currently shooting for her next movie ‘Dindayal Upadhyay’.

With movements like #MeToo, women have started raising and lending their voices to the cause, hinting towards the evolution of an empowered and strong women, rising above the mentality of “Log kya kahenge”.

Click here to watch the full video.

What Matters More : Places or People? | A Story by Niharika Mishra

Travelling is one of the best teachers of life, as it gives us the experiences and moments to be cherished forever. Niharika Mishra shares one such experience, from her trip to Europe.

The trip started with a realization of a learning journey ahead, right from the moment of boarding the aircraft. Interactions with the flight attendants, co-passengers, tourist guides and the locals, proved to be a learning curve for the family. But one particular event that happened in Amsterdam, really changed the perspective of Niharika regarding what’s important – people or places.

During one of her tram rides in Amsterdam, her interaction with the ticket seller of the tram, was very memorable. He, very sweetly, had asked her to have an ice-cream instead of buying the ticket. That one incident made her realize that the warmth and affection of people around you, even in the most common situations, has the potential to leave a lifelong impact. She has a smile on her face, every time she eats an ice-cream and remembers her Santa Clause.

Something as simple as a tram-ride and as simple as an ice-cream can also help us learn an important lesson of life that “more than places people matter”.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister of India was one of the iconic leaders of India. He was an outstanding parliamentarian and the stalwart of the Indian politics. He was born in a middle class family on 25th December, 1924 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

He started his political career as a freedom fighter in 1942, when he was arrested for 23 days during the Quit India Movement. He eventually entered into the national politics and became the national president of Jana Sangh. Later he founded BJP with his colleagues, was elected to Lok Sabha 10 times. He further went on to become the Prime Minister of India thrice.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Pokhran nuclear blast site after the nuclear test in 1998.

His vision and efforts have contributed to the growth of this country, in more ways than we can imagine. As the Prime Minister of India, he took landmark decisions which shaped the future and brought India to the ranks to emerging global superpowers. Nuclear Tests were conducted under his supervision at Pokhran in 1998 despite global political pressure. The diplomatic peace process with Pakistan with the historic inauguration of the Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999 and the resultant Lahore Declaration, the Golden Quadrilateral Highway and the various “domestic economic and infrastructural reforms, including encouraging the private sector and foreign investments, reducing governmental waste, encouraging research and development and privatization of some government owned corporations”, are some to name.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Inaugurating Bus Service Between Delhi and Lahore in February 1999

He never married in his personal life and dedicated his entire life to national service. However, he has an adopted daughter, Namita. His creative instinct makes him fond of music, dance and poetry. He has compiled his poems in form of books.

His selfless service to the nation, from being arrested for 23 days during the Quit India Movement to leading the country thrice as the Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee was truly the Bharat Ratna of India.

Talent Show for The Specially Abled : An Initative by Raindrops Foundation

Raindrops Foundation focuses on bringing about a positive change in the society. Founded by Chandani Ahuja, a young good-hearted graduate from LSR, is currently pursuing her higher studies from the Department of Journalism at Sheffield University.

Chandni Ahuja, Founder, Raindrops Foundation

After working with several NGOs during her college days, she started her initiatory enterprise: Raindrops, in the second year of her college as an online platform that provided a platform to all those people who couldn’t earn a proper means of living and paved a way to boost their businesses. Encouraged by the general response, the Raindrops Foundation was registered as a not-for-profit organisation in 2016. Since then, the foundation has engaged in flagship initiatives like the Project Swabhimaan and rural internship programmes.

With the purpose of providing a platform for the specially-abled community, a special event is being organised by the foundation on 5th August 2018, at Rajendra Bhawan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg from 3:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The itinerary includes a series of performances conducted by NGOs, schools for the specially-abled, and musicians like Anuj Saxena, Tanisha Sachdeva and Rajesh Kori. There will also be a display of products, designed by specially-abled craftspersons, which can be purchased by the visitors. There is no entry fee.

The Talented Indian and Raindrops Foundation heartily welcomes everyone and expects maximum participation from the people at the event to encourage and celebrate inclusiveness of the special-abled community.